Guardini wins 18th stage of Giro d’Italia

Italian Andrea Guardini won the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia on Thursday when the 22-year-old Farnese Vini team member held off British world champion Mark Cavendish.

Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez retained the overall leader’s pink jersey with three days of racing to go.

Cavendish was followed home in the 149km stage by Roberto Ferrari with South African Robert Hunter in fourth.

Cavendish, who is targeting the red jersey as the Tour’s overall points champion, narrowly missed out on winning his fourth stage of the race.

The Team Sky star will not be favoured by the make-up of the last three stages: two in the mountains and the concluding time trial.

He won the intermediate sprint on Thursday at the 84km mark.

In the closing stages the Isle of Man-born rider’s teammates were unable to set him up for victory with Guardini launching his sprint to the line just ahead of Cavendish.

Guardini, who won six stages on the Tour of Lankawi in Malaysia at the start of the season, clinched his seventh success of the year.

Friday’s stamina-sapping 19th stage in the mountains is a 198km run from Treviso to the Alpe di Pampeago.

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